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To: ANANT who wrote (241)	9/1/1998 11:39:00 PM
From: ANANT	Respond to of 395

Infobeat - Full Closing Bell banner Monday, August 31, 1998 More from InfoBeatÿÿÿÿÿ "Special Advertising Section" INVESTools Advisory Sponsored by: INVESTools <http://audit.infobeat.com/cgi/audit.fcgi?src=ib.finance.inve...> ** An Exception To The Market's Decline (DELL) Market timing guru Dan Sullivan continues to hold positions in Dell Computer (DELL) in both his Actual Cash Account and his Trader's Portfolio. The PC direct marketer still holds the number one position in Sullivan's relative strength rankings with Q2'98 growth in both earnings (72%) and revenue (54%). For more on Sullivan's relative strength rankings and Dell's prospects, get your FREE 30-day trial subscription to The Chartist <http://www.investools.com/cgi-bin/offer1/CHRT/Beat-chrttip> and his hotline updates. "Special Advertising Section" America Online (AOL) The world's leading Internet online services company, AMERICA ONLINE INC, said late Friday it has agreed with directory services company InfoSpace.com Inc. for a comprehensive online white pages directory for users to locate individuals across the country. AOL spokeswoman Ann Brackbill said the InfoSpace.com deal was "many times greater" than the Switchboard deal it replaced. "It is a multimillion dollar per year, three-year agreement," she told Reuters, declining to give further details. (Reuters 05:52 PM ET 08/28/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555777701-682> _____ America Online (AOL) AMERICA ONLINE INC said it entered a multi-year marketing agreement with HEWLETT PACKARD CO. The agreement will make it easier for buyers of Hewlett-Packard computers to sign up for and access American Online, AOL said in a statement. "AOL will be one of the primary Internet online services offered on all new HP Pavilion PCs," a statement said. "This agreement will allow users of HP Pavilion home PCs to access a customized co-branded version of the AOL service easily by clicking on an AOL icon on the desktop, or front screen, of certain models of HP Pavilion PCs," the statement added. (Reuters 09:21 AM ET 08/31/98) _____ Compaq Computer (CPQ) NEMATRON CORP said it has agreed with COMPAQ COMPUTER CORP to provide system integration services to joint customers. Nematron, which formed a system integrators program in October 1997, designs and makes PC-based industrial automation products that include software for direct machine control, process visualization and data acquisition. (Reuters 02:33 PM ET 08/31/98) _____ Gen Electric (GE) USA Networks Chairman Barry Diller confirmed in an interview in this week's Newsweek that he held talks with GENERAL ELECTRIC CO about merging his company with NBC. Diller, however, denied reports that Edgar Bronfman, chief executive of SEAGRAM COMPANY LTD with a 45% stake in USA Networks killed the deal. The deal did not happen for "financial reasons," said Diller to Newsweek, not because of Seagram's Bronfman. Diller said he still remains open to a deal with either the NBC or CBS networks. The CBS network is owned by CBS CORP. The USA Network reaches about 70% of U.S. homes and generates profits of $250 million annually. (Reuters 06:48 PM ET 08/30/98) _____ IBM (IBM) J.P. Morgan analyst Daniel Kunstler said he initiated coverage of IBM with a buy rating. Kunstler said IBM has shown growth opportunity from an improving business mix, including IBM Global Services, and a strong cash flow on EPS. Kunstler expects IBM's 1998 3Q EPS to be $1.52, the 1998 full year EPS to be $6.44 and 1999 full year earnings to be $7.57 per share. His 12-month target price for IBM is $160. (Reuters 10:24 AM ET 08/31/98) _____ Intel Corp (INTC) INTEL CORP co-founder Gordon Moore said that all major computer systems should be able to cope with the millennium, but problems could arise with non-mainstream systems. "There are millions of micro controllers out there," he told reporters in Vienna. "It is likely that all major systems will be fine. My fear is for controllers with code written by companies that don't exist any more." He said financial and administrative computer systems should remain stable, but even Intel did not know whether or not any of its production machines could be thrown off balance by the advent of 2000. (Reuters 02:35 PM ET 08/31/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555821232-798> _____ Microsoft Corp (MSFT) MICROSOFT CORP has demanded "flame mail" messages from NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS CORP in a bid to scorch its competitor in next month's antitrust trial. Hinting at one strategy it may use at the Sept. 23 trial, the Redmond, Wash., software company has subpoenaed internal electronic forums run by Netscape employees, the Journal reported. Microsoft may plan to use some of the more embarrassing of these electronic messages to show that it was management errors or weak products that led to a decline in Netscape's share of the Internet-browser market -- not the predatory practices of a monopolist, as the government charges, the Journal said. (Reuters 05:15 AM ET 08/31/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555814972-df8> _____ Microsoft Corp (MSFT) The government and 20 states suing MICROSOFT CORP are planning to ask a federal judge to admit new evidence in their major antitrust case against the software maker, The New York Times reported. The request could be made as early as Monday when the Justice Department and states are scheduled to reply to a Microsoft motion requesting that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson reject or pare back the case, a person close to the investigation told the Times. But the person close to the investigation said that the government and states had not yet reached final agreement on what fresh evidence to include, and that they would discuss the matter Monday morning. (Reuters 05:42 AM ET 08/31/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555815241-682> _____ Microsoft Corp (MSFT) MICROSOFT CORP launched the mainland Chinese version of its Windows 98 operating system in a glitzy ceremony that underscored its ambitions for one of the world's fastest growing computer markets. With personal computer sales expected to hit four million units in 1998, about a third higher than last year, China was fast becoming a crucial market for the software giant, a company official said. (Reuters 06:37 AM ET 08/31/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555815794-b54> _____ Microsoft Corp (MSFT) German public broadcaster ZDF said it would take part in a pilot project to allow Internet access over television sets that is being conducted by MICROSOFT CORP and DEUTSCHE TELEKOM A G. "We want to see how it works and whether there are viewers who would switch to the Internet from a television programme," said ZDF production director Albrecht Ziemer. ZDF plans to participate in the project by offering programming. Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom announced recently plans to conduct a Web TV pilot project eventually involving 300 households. Web TV Networks is a subsidiary of Microsoft and already offers Web TV services in the United States. (Reuters 10:33 AM ET 08/31/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555818449-cf5> _____ Motorola Inc (MOT) A unit of MOTOROLA INC has sold its stake in Thailand's United Communication Industry Plc (UCOM), UCOM said. Motorola Investments, a unit of Motorola, sold the stake because to avoid involvement in UCOM's debt-restructuring negotiations, said a spokesman for the Thai telecommunications company. Motorola was a 25% shareholder in World Telecom Holding, which owned 120 million shares, or 50.97% of UCOM. (Reuters 10:08 AM ET 08/31/98) For the full text story, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555818173-631> _____ Dow Jones 30 Industrials (DJIA) MARKET NEWS: U.S. stocks suffered one of their worst losses in history Monday in a fierce bashing that sent major indices well below 1997 year-end levels. In the second biggest point loss ever for blue chips, the Dow industrials fell 512.61 points, or 6.37%, to 7539.07. The Nasdaq composite, heavily weighted with technology issues, saw its steepest point drop in history, down 140.53 points or 8.57% to 1499.15. The S&P500 fell 69.46 points or 6.76% to 957.68. The Dow's decline Monday was second only to the 554 point plunge on October 27, 1997. The selling frenzy accelerated in the final hour of trade as investors bailed out of stocks in an attempt to cut further losses, fleeing for the relative safety of cash and bonds. The long bond was up 1-8/32 with the yield at a record low of 5.26%. The dollar was lower at 1.7480 marks and 139.64 yen. Decliners trounced advancers 7-1 on the Big Board in very heavy volume of 927 million shares. For the full text story, see full story <http://w! ww.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555823460-c17> o”A <http://adserver.merc.com/adserver.cgi?version=1.0&action=adc... ------------------------------------------------------------

To: ANANT who wrote (241)	9/3/1998 9:10:00 AM
From: Sonki	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 395

EXCLUSIVE: MICROSOFT WITNESS ADMITS TO DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE By Wendy Goldman Rohm Red Herring Online September 2, 1998 A key witness in the antitrust suit filed by Caldera against Microsoft (MSFT) has admitted under oath that documents were deleted from computers in a Microsoft office during the federal investigation of the software giant, sources close to the deposition said. The documents in question illustrated Microsoft's predatory sales activities in its attempts to restrict the success of Digital Research's DR DOS, a rival of MS-DOS, sources said. During their probes of Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department attorneys had long suspected that evidence might have been withheld or deleted -- a charge which Microsoft has consistently denied. These revelations mark the first time that evidence exists under oath that information was destroyed while the company was under investigation. The Justice Department has now begun its own investigation into this matter, and has just begun talks with this witness, sources confirm. A further investigation would now be needed to determine whether these activities resulted in obstruction of justice in both the Caldera case and the Justice Department's antitrust investigation, said antitrust experts. Microsoft ber alles The former Microsoft employee, deposed under oath last week, asserted that between 1991 and 1993, documents were deleted from computers under instructions by the head of Microsoft's OEM accounts at the company's German headquarters in Munich. Some of these documents mentioned alleged efforts by Microsoft to squeeze competitor DR DOS out of the operating system market in Germany. Whether Microsoft used anticompetitive methods to beat DR DOS, an alternative to Microsoft's operating system, is at the heart of the antitrust suit filed against the software giant by Caldera, a small operating system vendor that now owns DR DOS. "I can confirm we took the deposition of a former Microsoft employee last week," said Steve Hill, an attorney representing Caldera in its antitrust suit against Microsoft. "We consider [this person] to be a key witness in our case. We can't comment on anything that went on in a deposition." Kick 'em out Eliminating Digital Research was important to Microsoft's European business. During the early 1990s, Vobis, Germany's largest computer manufacturer, shipped all of its computers with DR DOS. At one point, Microsoft vice president Brad Chase sent an email to VP Jeff Lum expressing Steve Ballmer's concerns about Vobis. Mr. Ballmer, then a senior vice president, is now president of Microsoft. "Steve told me to eat, sleep, and drink Vobis, so I will be on everyone to let me know what's going on with this account," he wrote. Like IBM in the United States, Vobis had enormous influence in Europe. Other Microsoft memos suggested that winning Vobis over to MS-DOS would "lead other OEMs" to support Microsoft's product. In January 1991, VP Jeff Lum was urging Joachim Kempin, Microsoft's vice president of OEM sales, to "kick DRI [Digital Research, then the maker of DR DOS] out" of Vobis. Among memos the Justice Department has in its possession is one Mr. Kempin had written as early as October 1990, when Microsoft was plotting to use per-processor licenses to lock out Microsoft competitors. (In 1995, Microsoft signed a consent decree with the Justice Department agreeing not to use such contracts, which charged PC vendors seeking to license MS-DOS and Windows a fee for every computer sold, whether or not a Microsoft operating system was installed on a computer.) The memo reads, in part, "This will block out DR [Digital Research] once signed." The material now being collected in the two court cases against Microsoft -- Caldera's antitrust suit, and Sun's contractual dispute over Microsoft's license to the Java programming language -- is fueling Justice Department's concerns that Microsoft is withholding evidence in the government's case against the software company. Microsoft offered no comment in response to these new charges. "We can't comment on anything that may have occurred in a deposition," said Microsoft spokesperson Mark Murray. Mr. Murray noted that Microsoft has given Caldera "access to the entire library" of documents produced to the Justice Department. Statutes of limitation do not apply to obstruction of justice cases, sources said, and the Justice Department's next step, if the witness's statements are found to be substantial, could be to consider the appointment of a grand jury to further probe the charges. The memos quoted above were among those discovered by the author in the course of researching her book, The Microsoft File: The Secret Case Against Bill Gates, published by Random House in September 1998. Ms. Rohm's articles have appeared in The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Wired, Information Week, and PC Week, among others. Write to her at wendy@compuserve.com. See our earlier story on Microsoft. Will Microsoft's case stand up against these new allegations? Tell us.